Riders produce exciting racing as weather takes a turn for the better

Last weekend’s Adelaide Insurance sponsored Mondello Masters series produced some great racing on a dry track.
Luke Johnston from Ahoghill, ahead of Robert English and Carl Phillips. Picture: Roy Adams.Luke Johnston from Ahoghill, ahead of Robert English and Carl Phillips. Picture: Roy Adams.
Luke Johnston from Ahoghill, ahead of Robert English and Carl Phillips. Picture: Roy Adams.

We have become used to getting soakings at Mondello, but for the first time this year we had perfect racing conditions throughout the entire weekend.

There were a set of races on Saturday afternoon, as seems to have become the practice at Mondello, with the Avon Tyres Formula One class having two outings.

In Saturday’s Superbike race, David Haire managed to make a break, holding on to win by 1.4 seconds. Cody Nally took second place, just pipping Brian McCormack by .04 of a second. Gerard Kinghan from Randalstown was also well in the mix, but was forced off the podium by just over a second.

The Adelaide grid girls at Mondello. On the left is Donna Lyons. On the bike is Zoe McKinnon, the current Miss Mid Antrim 150, from Galgorm. Krystle Lamont, from Cullybackey, is on the right. Picture: Roy Adams.The Adelaide grid girls at Mondello. On the left is Donna Lyons. On the bike is Zoe McKinnon, the current Miss Mid Antrim 150, from Galgorm. Krystle Lamont, from Cullybackey, is on the right. Picture: Roy Adams.
The Adelaide grid girls at Mondello. On the left is Donna Lyons. On the bike is Zoe McKinnon, the current Miss Mid Antrim 150, from Galgorm. Krystle Lamont, from Cullybackey, is on the right. Picture: Roy Adams.

In the first Superbike outing on Sunday things were shaping up for a good race. David Haire took the lead from the lights, chased hard by Brian McCormack and Cody Nally. There was a shake up at about half distance when Cody Nally lost the front of his ZX10 at the final hairpin. Antrims Mark Glasgow was sucked in to Codys accident. Neither were hurt, but it left David Haire moving back up into second place. Damien Byrne finished a surprise third.

The last Superbike race gave us one of the closest podium finishes of the weekend. Brian McCormack took the win, .9 ahead of Gerard Kinghan, while Cody Nally was just .1 back. The top three inside a second.

David Haire was in great form in the Supersport 600 class. He took the first race of the weekend, getting the better of Carl Phillips by 1.4 seconds. Robert English was third, about 3 seconds back.

David Haire was the early leader of the opening race on Sunday. He was chased hard by Carl Phillips, who always looked like he had just that little bit left. In the closing stages of the race, Phillips got the better run on back markers, and managed to take the win, by just .3 of a second. Again Robert English finished in third place.

Phillips again won the final race, pushed hard by Conor Parkhill. The young lad from Eglinton recovered from a bad start to come right in on Phillips on the final couple of laps. He was only .2 off the pace at the line, with Haire slipping to third place.

Andrew Whearty was a comfortable winner of Saturdays SS400 race. He managed to open a 6.4 seconds lead on James Ging at the line, while Ian Whearty was third. Gavin PJ Quinn came from behind to take the opening race on Sunday. He recovered from a slow start, to go ahead on the Whearty brothers, Andrew and Ian, at the finish.

PJ had things a little more comfortable in the last race, winning by 1.8 seconds. Andrew Whearty was second and Willie Maher third. In all three races, Caolin Irwin was the first GP125, in his first outing on a GP bike.

Riding a 250GP bike, Ronan Shanahan took a treble over the weekend in the Pre Injection/GP250 races. On Saturday Shanahan had a great start, moving away from Kevin English, to take the win by 8.7 seconds. Mervyn Griffin finished right in English’s wheel tracks. On Sunday there was more of the same from Ronan Shanahan when he got the better of Griffin by just .5 of a second, with Austin Wilson in third place.

Again Shanahan had a flier of a start on the little GP bike in the final race of the weekend. He held on to win by a full second over Meath rider Vincent Brennan. He, in turn, was under a second ahead of Griffin at the finish.

Stradbally man John Cahill won Saturdays first race for the Superbike and Supersport B riders. While Cahill moved away from the rest of the field second and third placed John Ryan and Tom Deveraux were battling for the final couple of steps of the podium. Second place went to Ryan by .1 of a second.

Paul Gaffney won both Sunday’s encounters. In the first he came from behind to go ahead of John Cahill, winning by 7.9 seconds. Cahill finished .1 ahead of Anthony Derrane. Gaffney was 7 seconds ahead of John Ryan in the final race of the weekend for the B riders, while in third place, John Cahill was a further second back down the road.

Dave Butler took Saturday’s Supertwins race. It was a start to finish win, with Bangors Drew Jamison 3.5 seconds back in second. Philip McNally finished in third place. Jamison improved on Sunday winning both races. In the first he was 2.7 seconds ahead of McNally with Butler back in third.

Drew Jamison had a slightly more emphatic win in the last race. He made a great start, winning by 3.2 seconds. Philip McNally was nearly 4 seconds ahead of Butler.

The organisers of the Masters series have revived the ‘Grand Final’ concept, thinking that the public and riders like the idea of the fastest riders on the day competing in a straight race.

In effect it gave a fairly handy win to Tramore man Brian McCormack. He was being pushed hard by Gerard Kinghan, but the Randalstown man lost the front end of his bike and crashed, without injury. After that B Mac was untroubled, winning by .7 of a second from Cody Nally.

Magnanimous in defeat, Nally said ‘No excuses. The rest of the lads were well on it. I just couldn’t work with them.’

Mark Glasgow’s pit crew repaired his bike after an earlier slip and the Antrim man finished in third place, about 8 seconds behind Nally.

The Avon Tyres backed Formula One races were both held on Saturday. The first one produced the only red flag incident of the weekend when Antrim’s Matthew Hazlett crashed the RT&E Suzuki.

At the moment the only news that I have of Matthew is that he has a compound fracture of the femur, and has had it operated on. He’s in hospital in Tallaght and hopes to be home during the week. The race went to Chris Campbell. He was being pressed hard by Alvin Griffin.

Griffin told me afterwards: ‘I could have had him when I wanted. My laps times were all better that his, but the red flag scuppered that idea.’ At the line on the last completed lap Campbell was .1 ahead, while they had pulled well away from the elder of the Hazlett brothers, Luke, on another RT&E bike. Alvin Griffin was taking no chances in the last race. He took the race win by almost 5 seconds, with Campbell second. David O’Donnell was lapped, back in third.

Dylan Lynch/Stephen Mullan won all three sidecar races over the weekend. On Saturday Terry O’Reilly and Clive Russell were right in their wheeltracks, finishing only .2 back. The top two had moved away from the rest of the field, Peter O’Neill and Jack Galligan finishing in third place.

The first race on Sunday gave the Lynch/Mullan duo a win, 1.5 seconds in front of O’Reilly/Russell. Scobby Killough and Brian Butler were third, although they were well adrift.

The last race was slightly boring, if the truth were to be told. Lynch and Mullan were given a hard time for a lap by Peter O’Neill and Jack Galligan. There was a bit of contact between the two outfits, and O’Neill retired. The Lynch/ Russell team took a win, 5.6 seconds ahead of Terry O’Reilly and Clive Russell. Scobby Killough, who lives less than a mile from the paddock at Dundrod, was third, chaired by Brian Butler.

Overall, a great weekend’s sport. Mondello gets a lot of flak from some riders about the amount of time they waste.

Sundays practice started on time and at the end of the day they were running well ahead of the schedule.

A lot of credit must go to Clerk of the Course, Daire Lowe and Jimmy McDonnell. The two worked as a team should and even though they lost time with podiums etc, racing still finished shortly after 5pm. Well done to all concerned.

KELLS THIS WEEKEND

Most clubs are undergoing financial problems. Sadly, the situation with the Kells club was of a nature that they haven’t run their road race since 2011.

Happily it’s back, and will take place this weekend.

I have no entry list but I do know that the practice will be on Saturday, roads closing at 1pm.

The club’s plan is also to have their Classic races on the Saturday, after practice finishes. Roads will close on Sunday at 11am with the first race taking place shortly afterwards.

Last year I had no pass for the Southern road races, but I have been assured that this year I will be made welcome at Kells.

If all goes according to plan, you will see a full report and photos in next weeks Times.

SPONSORED WALK

As I mentioned a few weeks back, with the help of Adelaide Masters grid girl and Miss Mid Antrim 150, Zoe McKinnon, I’m trying to organise a fancy dress sponsored walk.

With the kind permission of John McClure and the Belfast and District club, that walk will be a single lap of Kirkistown, 1.2 miles, during the lunch break at their short circuit meeting in September.

I’ll have further details as time goes on. The idea of the fancy dress is more to get children involved and maybe bring out the child in a few adults as well.

Both Zoe and I now have sponsorship forms available. I can be contacted on 07540 608757 and both of us are easily contacted on Facebook.

While the idea of the walk is to have some fun, the two bodies to benefit are both very serious. The MCUI Medical Team and the Injured Riders Fund, both do great work within racing.

I would urge you to get in contact with either Zoe or myself and come along for a bit of craic. You can also stay to watch the racing.